Sharpa raises over 4.5B yuan at 22B yuan valuation for dexterous robots
What's the deal? Sharpa, a Shanghai-based general robotics company specialising in dexterous manipulation, has raised over 4.5 billion yuan (about $669 million) in a late-stage round, the company said on August 28. It marks Sharpa's first publicly disclosed funding.
Who's backing it? Industrial giants Alibaba, Meituan, Tencent, JD.com, and TranssionDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → joined venture firms Sequoia Capital ChinaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Qiming Venture Partners, Meituan Dragonball, and Guanghe Venture CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The round values Sharpa at 22 billion yuan post-money.
What's the endgame? Sharpa is building general-purpose robots and components centred on dexterous manipulation. The funds will accelerate core research and development and help attract and cultivate top talent.
Why now? Founded in late 2024 by Hesai Technology chief executive officer Li Yifan, chief technology officer Xiang Shaoqing, and chief scientist Sun Kai, Sharpa plans to first penetrate real-world verticals, then move into home environments from 2028.
Li said Sharpa's target applications must meet three criteria: no environment changes made for robots, fully autonomous operation, and completion of complex, multi-step tasks.
The signal: The raise ranks in the 99.8th percentile among all-time late-stage robotics rounds in the region, per our data of 202 comparable deals. It shows China's largest tech firms converging on humanoid and dexterous robotics as the sector's next frontier.
Read more: jiemian.com, kucoin.com
Image credit: Innovating Robotics for the FutureSharpa
